Walking is one of the most widely used means of transport. Neighborhood built environments have a direct influence on individuals’ daily commuting, recreational travel patterns, and shopping travel behavior. In Chinese cities, shopping activities are among the most frequent reasons for daily travel. Yet, research on the impact of neighborhood built environments on people’s shopping travel activities in high-density cities is limited. To fill this research gap, this study investigates how neighborhood built environments might affect pedestrians’ shopping travel activities in Shanghai, China. The data, which includes shopping travel patterns, perceived environmental characteristics, and individual socioeconomic status, were collected from a survey of 21 randomly selected neighborhoods in Shanghai in 2011. In total, data from 2,838 samples (participants) were collected. Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate how neighborhood built environments affect residents’ choice of travel mode for shopping, that is, the likelihood of taking transit, driving, or biking vs. walking. Results showed that nearly half of people surveyed (43.3%) used walking as their primary shopping mode. Road network density, presence of primary schools, and average sidewalk width were positively correlated with the likelihood of using walking as the primary shopping mode. Gender, age, and car ownership were also significant in the model.
A hierarchical model for the full range choice of shopping travel behavior.